Chance Report and another Cover

Still Sore in His Heels

My vet was out yesterday to look at Chance. On the plus side, Chance was perfectly willing to trot on the lunge which was a big improvement. On the down side, he still is sore in the front. This time it was the right front.

My vet did a heel nerve block and he went sound on that foot. But he was still landing toe first on the left front. Theory is that he is protecting his heels.

We can't yet do a new Lyme titer as we have to wait for about 2 months. In the meantime, we are going to try either bar shoes or natural balance wedge shoes to see how that works. Hate the idea, but if it makes my boy feel better, that's good.

Did I tell you I had a Lyme test and it was negative? Now I am waiting to see how my allergy tests came out.

Meantime, the next novel cover.

Chance News And....

The Fourth Cover

My vet is coming today--Friday--to look at Chance. 48 days of antibiotics and to be honest, my boy does not look sound yet. He is short strided and I think I saw a bit of a limp. Not sure what the next step is at this point. IV antibiotics are generally listed for acute cases, but we shall see. I'm not sure how to handle all that.

I will post later with results.

On to the books. I have titled the last book you saw as "Honor's Way."  Up for grabs now is the third long novel. So I am posting both covers for your perusal.

Another Cover

But What's the Title?

OK, as I said, I actually have about seven completed novels or novelettes to publish. Remember, I started writing back in 1984, so this is not all that impressive.

Anyhow. Two stories/novelettes that bridge the story between the first two main novels are called: "Vows" and "Everafter."  They chronicle the rather complex adventures where my hero, Jamus, and his love, Salene, try to get married and have a honeymoon. Needless to say, there are forces in the world that do not believe in allowing them to have an easy time of it. (How could a fantasy novel go any other way?)

Anyhow, my amazing friend Dave has created the cover for the combined stories.  I could simply call it "Vows" or something else....short. We don't want to ruin the cover art with a long title. So, any suggestions appreciated.

Here is the cover. Dave still wants to tweak a few things, but I love it.....

Kind of sums it all up....

Planning Ahead and Chance Looks Good

So Far.....

So good. I lunged Chance for about five minutes this morning. There may have been a little "hitch" in his right hind when he started but it seemed to work out. The biggest problem was the flies. Deer flies from the woods kept attacking him, so he was fussy and unsteady that way. Did not really see any lameness.

I need to take him out after dark when it cools off....hot and humid today already by 9AM.  That way I can evaluated him better without his fly sheet on. Last time I tried to lunge him without the sheet, he got attacked by the B52 bomber fly and was completely frantic.

We have had quite a bit of rain this summer, making it super good breeding conditions for all kinds of bitey flies. They are most happy to gnaw on the horses and me whenever they get the chance.

I also have a fence repair to do. The well pit in the front paddock was fenced in...until sometime last night. Somebody not only broke on of the fence posts but he also dragged three loose fence rails about 15 feet away under the apple tree and the post itself along with another attached rail to the same spot.  This took a bit of effort and smacks of Chancework. I'd like to think he's the culprit, mostly becuase it would mean he's feeling better. Then again, could be all three conspired.  Who knows?

Ah well, work ahead. Don't have an extra post on hand, I don't think. Have to figure something out. In the meantime, I've managed a temporary fix with baling twine kind of holding things together. What would a farm be without baling twine? *G*

Planning ahead. we are working on the cover for the second novel. Here is a version. Comments?

Not Much New

All's Well At Follywoods

Still treating Chance with the antibiotics--a week to go. Last time I lunged him, he looked pretty good. I am hoping all will be well.

On my front, my doctor at the chiro office talked me out of the Lyme test, but my regular chiropractor talked me back into it, so I am going to my primary care doctor to see if she will order one. In the meantime, I am going back to the chiro doctor--he is a regular physician--to have him order allergy tests which can be done there by another doctor specialist. My chiropractor said sometimes knee/joint replacements trigger allergies in people that can have all kinds of impacts.

Current thinking is that some of the issues with my knees, my hip, and other joint aches might be allergy related if not Lyme. I am certainly pretty darn functional, so it's not that I can't do things, but joints do get sore and my knees actually get some swelling. Could well just be due to old injuries to the ligaments that remain, but I would like to eliminate causes I might be able fix a little better.

Neural therapy and prolotherapy worked for a while, and more prolo might be a good option to tighten the ligaments, but I am already paying off a pretty hefty medical bill there--insurance won't pay for "experimental treatments"--and would rather not run it up any higher. So, it's a wait and see.

I finally took a short walk in the field roads yesterday, first one since the hip. Felt pretty good for about 20 minutes of hiking. If I can keep it up along with the swimming which is fine, I think I can trim myself down a bit more. Gained a few pounds after the hip thing. Not a lot, but annoying after having lost so much.

Still have not ridden. I'm waiting for Chance. Then I will see how it feels. Might still be uncomfortable with the hip. I'm amazed at how long it's taking for the muscle to quite complaining, but from everything I've read it's quite normal. Yuck.

The final book in my fantasy series is nearly done. As soon as I finish, I will be going back to Book #1...the one with the cover I posted...and get it into final format for Amazon. So, I'm still on schedule to get it into publication before October. Should be fun.

After it's published, the next one is a collection of novelettes that bridge the story between novels 1 & 2. Then, novel 2 itself,  another novelette and then the final two main novels. The third book will probably be done in two volumes as it's really long.

I am determined to get them all done and published. They've been sitting far too long.

And I've been sitting far too long. Exercise program is on the upswing...at least for now.

One More Time

Hate to Be Boring But:

One more cover option. I think this is the one:
Just need to center my name a bit better.

Latest Version of Cover

How Do You Like This?

Of Horses And Novels

What Do You Think?

First on the horse front. Chance's improvement is spotty. The other day, I lunged him and he looked really good. Then, a few days later, when I went out for late night feed, he was lying down napping under the apple tree. I had to go out to invite him in for feed. When he got up he was really stiff. I have not lunged him since but he's been looking better again.

My little research with Lyme says that sometimes horses have a toxic reaction to the dead spirochete. This may be what's happening.

I also found some information that people with Lyme are being treated with invermectin, the worming medication. When I called my vet to be sure it was OK to give Chance his required worming while on the antibiotics....it was....I asked him if he'd heard of this. He promised to look into it for me. He had already planned on calling me next week to check on Chance's progress, so perhaps he'll know something then. Gotta love my vet. He really does care about his clients.

On to the book front, literally. I have written a series of fantasy novels. I will be self-publishing them through Amazon. I did send the first book out to publishers several years ago, with no luck. I had an editor/agent who started to read it as a favor but she did not have the time to devote to it. Since then the fantasy market has collapsed and risen again. I finally decided that self-publishing was the better option especially since Amazon offers it for no cost.

The book will be offered in Kindle as well as on demand published softcover. I still need to do one more formatting and proof reading before I publish. My friend has some digital software create a cover. So far this is the design. I am putting up two versions. The first without the title, the second with. Now, on the second, my friend decided to feature my name as is done with many famous authors. I think the book's title should be at the top, with my name at the bottom. Hopefully, he will make up a cover that way. But, in the meantime, I would like your opinions. I have also suggested a slightly simpler font if we can find a free one to use.

Do you think this cover will invite people to buy my book??

Looks kinda cool to me, but we've been working on it for a week or so and both I and my friend are a bit prejudiced at this time.

The hero is Jamus, a magician and his horse, Whim, is a silver stallion he created out of the wind and mist. Horses play a significant role in the story but it really is much more about people and the magic itself.

This is book #1 of a four novel series. There will be four books altogether. There is also a collection of 4 more shorter novelettes that serve as bridges between the main novels...at least between books 1 & 2.

Thanks in advance for any and all opinions.

Day 12 on Medication

So Far, So Good

Chance is still eating up his antibiotics. I chop up some little pieces of carrot and feed them with the pills in his sweet feed. He is a nice, neat eater and has been cleaning up every bit of the food and meds.

Today, the Boys were out in the pasture when I went out to give them their dinner. Tucker and Toby saw me before I called and came trotting in. Chance was still grazing, so I called him. At first, he just started walking, then, he thought better of it, hurried into a trot and then a canter. It's the first time I've seen him moving out on his own in a while.

He didn't trot for too long, but when he did I did not see any signs of a limp. The canter looked to be his usual relaxed rolling gait. Both the fact that he looked pretty sound and that he decided to take up the gaits in the first place was a pretty good sign that he may be feeling better. I recall when I had Lyme, the antibiotic made me feel better in short order, so hopefully that's what's going on with Chance.

Speaking of me, my doctor did not feel it was worth it for me to get tested. Since I have been treated for Lyme twice--once with symptoms and once with a bull's eye rash--the current tests would not prove anything one way or another. The Western blot test and the ELISA test basically check for antibodies and anyone who's been exposed to Lyme would have positive results. Without a baseline number, it's impossible to know what numbers a positive test would be for someone like me. There are at least two non-FDA approved tests available for a pretty high price--the lowest was $600--but there is no way to be sure the results would be valid. For that kind of money, it's not worth taking a chance.

So, I'll just go along hoping I'm OK. Apparently, there's no really reliable way to know for sure.

I've been swimming nearly every day, trying to get myself back in shape. My hip still gets sore, as do my knees, but I can cope and the swimming feels great. There is a free water aerobics class at the pool for members I want to take. I missed the first session and last Monday's class was canceled due to bad weather. I  think I'm looking forward to it. I already do water exercises, but I would like to learn more. It might even be fun.

Needless to say, I'll keep you posted.

Day One on Medication

Thanks to All

By the by, may I start out by thanking you all for your perceptive comments.

I know Kate has a ton of expertise on Lyme, and she is 100% correct about the new tests available. The titers test for: :# 1. a horse that has been vaccinated, #2. a horse with an active "new" infection, and #3. a horse with a chronic infection. Chance was normal for #1 & #2 and nearly 7 times normal for #3.

Bless his little cotton socks, as some of my British blogging pals might say, but I tried Kate's suggestion of simply putting the pills in his feed and feeding him on a clean, flat floor--I have rubber mats in the aisle. I added some cut up carrots just to distract his taste buds, and to my delight, Chance ate up every bit of his dinner including all 22 capsules of minocycline. The pills are gel capsules, not tablets so I was a bit concerned, but so far, so good. I don't know how long he will keep eating them, but I will try every day.

I have a dose syringe just in case and a small stock of applesauce easily refilled if we need it. I do like the idea of his eating the pills directly, though. Thanks for the good advice so that I tried.

In the meantime, I decided to talk to my own human doctor about getting myself tested again. I have been treated twice for Lyme disease and tested a third time just on general principles. What I hope is, but I can't seem to find confirmation on the Internet, is that there are new tests for humans as well. The last time I was tested the results were negative.

First, since Chance has Lyme, I can be relatively certain ticks in my area are infected, and I've had plenty of ticks on me. I've had no rashes that I've noticed, but the frist time I had Lyme, I had no rash, so that means nothing.

Second, I have had chronic issues with my knees, even after the replacements. It's worth checking to see if those issues might be cause by something like Lyme.

Third, considering that I live in New Jersey which is a hotbed of the disease and I spent a lot of time in the woods and fields, it's not a bad  idea to check anyhow.

I don't know how the doctor I'll be seeing will take all this, but he's generally been pretty reasonable about such things. He's the physician at my chiropractic center--Alternative Integrated Medical Services--where they do all kinds of therapies. It's a fabulous place--did my physical therapy there, get chiropractic, acupuncture, nutritional counseling, massage therapy, chelation therapy, xrays, blood tests, and basic medical services there, all in one practice.

Anyhow, that's the plan.

I think it's a good idea.

The Verdict is In

Chance Has Chronic Lyme Disease

Not much more to say for now as the titles tell it all. Chance had a count of 7,350 on the chronic portion of his Lyme test. He was negative for and active infection.

At last the mystery of his lameness has been solved. I only wish we had run the test sooner, but when I first mentioned it, my vet dismissed the idea.

Live and learn. I just feel bad that Chance has had the extra month or more of feeling miserable because we didn't test him sooner. But, as is typical with the disease, we treated and examined him for other causes of is lameness first.

The current antibiotic my vet is recommending is minocycline. Due to new drug manufacturing and pricing issues, it is a good choice. Doxycycline is the more usual option, but it can cause digestive issues, especially diarrhea. Apparently the minocycline does not have the same complications.  He will have a course of the antibiotics twice a day for 48 days.

I'll probably be dosing him with the syringe unless I can be sure he will eat the medication on his own--not too hopeful about that. I can dissolve the capsules in water and then add some applesauce to make it tastier for him. It's my usual method for giving oral medications, so I'm pretty experienced at it. All I need is a co-operative patient.  Hard to say how long I'll have one of the stuff tastes bad.

It's another one of those good/bad situations. The good is that we finally know what's wrong, the bad is that Lyme is not necessarily cured easily--at least not permanently. It can rear its ugly head at any time even after it's been treated and seems to have gone its merry way.

"Chronic" means Chance has had Lyme for a while. How long is hard to say. I have to wonder now about that hind leg issue of his and whether it may have been from an old infection he got even before I adopted him. Or, if it is just another red herring along the way, coincidental with his more recent soreness up front--or in the other hind leg.

Suffice it to say, I am hopeful we are now on course to make him feel better at last. He's a really nice horse who deserves everything I can do to get him healthy and happy again.

I'll keep you all posted on how things are going. Medication starts Sunday night so I can do an uninterrupted course of treatments since my vet has to order more pills that he currently has on hand.

The month of July is going to be very interesting here at Follywoods.

Not Quite Yet

My Vet Sees Chance

Dr. Klayman came today to see Chance after his shoeing.

Good news, bad news, again.

The good news is that the shoes definitely helped. Chance was not limping during lunging. But the bad news is that he also is not striding out as he should. As he worked a bit, he did get better, but just is a bit on the "short" side with his gait.

So we are not yet 100% happy.

We did draw blood for a Lymes test, and the results could be back by the end of the week.  Meantime, things are on hold.

If the test comes back positive, of course, then we will treat him for that. If not, I will try a course of bute and some work. The idea is to get his muscles working properly again.

This does make some sense to me now, especially after my own layup for my broken hip bone.  Muscles in my body that have not worked properly for just a couple months need to be reconditioned to work at full capacity.

Chance has been off and on lame since late fall. As I noted, all winter, due to the frozen ground and miserable snow and ice, he really hasn't used his body properly for quite a while. Then, once the ground improved he developed the more obvious lameness issues we've been dealing with.

Like me, I would suspect he really does need a course of physical therapy to regain his former "way of going."  I guess as a plan of action it's about as good as any at this point.

Once again, it's a waiting game.

I'm pretty sure I am just about ready to ride again anyhow. Over the last few days the bulk of the pain is going from my hip. I'm not sure why, although I have been doing some serious barn work over the last couple days. I finally cleaned out the run in shed on Chance's side of the barn. All the manure had stacked up in there over the winter months and frozen solid. When it thawed, it was laid up with my hip, so it was neglected. Sunday and Monday, the weather was gorgeous here so I started cleaning. Eventually, I used the tractor to make shorter work of the job, but it still required a lot of hand forking to get the nooks and crannies clean.

At this rate, I'll be fit all over.  Who needs physical therapy when you have a barn and horses?

The Waiting Game Continues

On the Chance Front This Time

Scott came out to shoe on Saturday.  He had consulted with Dr. Klayman on Chance's lameness and was well prepared for the shoeing job.

This was Chance's first shoeing with me....not sure if he was ever shod before. Scott does hot shoeing, so that can be a bit scary, but after an initial flinch, Chance was fine.

Not quite so for the nailing. He was clearly uncomfortable as the hammer rapped on his feet. At one point, I thought he was going to go down.  He was only being shod in the front, but he dropped down on his hind end. It was really a disturbing reaction.

But he tried hard to be a good boy. The most upsetting moment was when Scott tried to rasp his right hind foot. He finally had to give up because Chance simply could not stand comfortably long enough for him to do it.

Now why?

The change in his front feet with the shoeing and pads was quite a bit. The left hind leg is the one that's had the chronic off and on lameness. Could be.

Or is it something else?

Scott mentioned Lymes disease and I had wondered about that before. As I recall, Dr. Klayman did not think it was likely, but at this point, I think it's worth having a blood test done.

I lunged him for about a minute today and he really didn't even want to trot. But when he did he was pretty short strided. Again, there is a substantial change in both his angle and the fact that he has shoes on, so it could take a while for things to settle down. At the moment I am still worried, but again, I have to be patient.

At least on these hotter days, the Boys don't seem to want to run around too much. Just hanging out in the stalls with the fans seems to suit.

Still Waiting

On Several Fronts

My vet called yesterday to tell me he had not heard from my farrier regarding Chance. I called my farrier who said he hadn't received any calls or emails from my vet.

Something is strange here. So last night, I sent an email to my vet, farrier, and me with all the phone numbers and email addresses so there should be no more confusion.

No rush on my account as, despite the fact that the doctor cleared me for riding, I can't quite figure out how to do it, so if Chance is still not sound, it's OK for now.

Except that he is uncomfortable. He does seem pretty happy and I did see him frolicking about out there a few times, so he can't be too miserable. But any limp is a limp and I don't want to work an unsound horse unless I'm sure it's not aggravating something.

Speaking of lame, that's me. And working while I'm lame is actually an important part of my recovery. According to my doctor, and much of what I've read about this particular bone break--hip neck fracture--can take months, not just weeks. From what I've read on some of the forums out there, many people with a similar injury are not as far along in getting better as I am.

So that's the good news. The bad news is that while I am certain I could ride if I wanted to, what I can't quite master is how to get on and off the horse. Once again, no matter which side I mount from, there will be extra strain and demands on my left leg. Either I have to stand on it and turn with my weight on it, or I have to swing it over the horse if I get on from the off side.

Until I am more limber, stronger in that muscle, and pretty pain free, riding will have to wait.

But I can swim.  And if the temperatures finally decide to settle into the warmer levels, I'll be doing a lot of that. As noted, I've been in the indoor pool a few times when I've substituted at the Academy, and so far twice in the very cool--make that cold--outdoor pool on the weekends.

Still, the day after the swim, I am a bit more sore than usual. I'm hoping it's a positive reaction to exercise with my muscles breaking down a bit with the exercise only to build up stronger.

Meantime, on the horse front and the "body front," it's a waiting game.

With Friends Like This

What Else Do I Need?

The past two days have been busy. All of which leads to the latest episode in my continuing adventure of life.

I was out to a political meeting on Tuesday and did not get home until late. There was a phone message from a friend but it was too late to call her back. The next morning, I got a call at 6:30 AM to substitute teach, so I could not call her then. After school I had a chiropractor's appointment with physical therapy, so I rushed home from school, fed the Boys and drove back to the doctor. Immediately after, I had my friend drive me over to the school where I used to teach to pick up my truck--it was being serviced in the school's auto shop. As payment for carting me around, I took my friend out to dinner.

I got back home around 9 PM or so.

There was at least one police car in my driveway. I thought perhaps the patrol had pulled over a speeder and they'd pulled in to give him a ticket. But as I got out of the truck, a police officer approached me, shined a flashlight in my face and asked my name, and how old I was.

When I told him, he said, "We've been looking for you."

Wha...????

He said something about horses...a fall from one, or something, I'm not sure as not of it made too much sense. Then he said someone had called the police looking for me and they'd come over to my house to see if I was OK.

The story weaved and bobbed in my head. Who?  Turns out the friend I had not called back had tried to call me again last night and when she could not get in touch with me, her vivid imagination took hold. She was convinced I was lying dead or injured somewhere.

After calling a couple of my friends to see if they had heard from me--well, she got in touch with Stacie but not Don--she found out I had been alive and kicking on Saturday, but Stacie had not heard from me since. (Now, mind you, Stacie was not worried at all.)

At this point, things escalated. My worried friend, Celia, called the police to see if there was a power outage in my area so that my phone might not be working. I'm not sure what else she said except that she was trying to contact me and had not been able to. (She'd told Stacie I "never went anywhere," so why wasn't I home to return her call)

The upshot was that the police cruised on over to my house to check things out. They searched the barn, then decided to search the house. I'd left a window in the front open a crack, so one officer cut the screen, pulled it off, climbed in through the window and "searched the premises."

I'd gotten a package of horse supplements several days ago that I'd left on the front porch since it was too heavy to carry in. I'd planned on opening it and dishing out some of the stuff to lighten the load, but hadn't yet moved it. So when the police saw the package, they figured I really hadn't been home. Once inside, they found another package I had taken in and were preparing to trace it to see when it had been delivered. Then they found my roladex with all my phone numbers and started calling people listed there. Heaven knows how many people they called.

The one officer also noted that they knew I had two vehicles and did see that one of them was missing. What other information had they used to check up on me??  Heaven only knows.

The Sergeant had one of the officers carry the heavy package into the house for me. The officer copied down information about my identity, and eventually, they left. What I had thought was one police car and a speeder was actually three patrol cars in my driveway.

The phone rang. It was my friend, Richard who'd driven me to pick up my truck. He'd seen the police when he passed my house. Then my cousin called from South Jersey--another friend had called them after he'd been called by the police. I had to call another friend who'd been contacted. I called Stacie who had apparently been grilled by the police in a phone call--she lives nearly an hour away. And, of course, I called Celia, the instigator of the whole affair.

The only good thing was that I'd left that window open. The Sergeant told me if the window hadn't been open they would have broken down a door to get in.

Now I have a dilemma. I do not, at the moment have any immediate neighbors. (Long story there....) I guess I need to get someone else to know where the key to my house is hidden should something actually happen to me. Obviously, I can't call someone every time I leave the house. Celia has sworn she will never do something like this again, so that's good, but it does raise the issue of what might have been if something had gone wrong.

I mean, it's nice to have friends who care, but this was over the top.

And now I have to patch the hole in a perfectly good window screen.

Swim, Swam, Swum

Outdoors!!

I waited for this afternoon when the temperatures were up in the high 80's F.  Then I headed over to Crystal Springs to see how the water felt for a little swim.

I can't say it was warm, but it wasn't horribly cold either. Since there were a number of people in the water, I figured I would not wimp out.

In I went. The chill hit me, but I swam fast to the far end of the pool and once my body was in action, it felt fine.

More than fine.

It felt great!!  I did about four laps when I heard the loudspeaker calling for the owner of a car like mine with a license plate just like mine. Was it mine?

Sure enough. Guest relations had a set of keys I'd somehow managed to leave in my back hatch lock. When I unloaded groceries in the back yard yesterday, I'd forgotten to take the keys out. An honest soul in the swimming pool parking lot had seen them in the lock and most graciously and honestly and turned them in to guest relations. Cool.

After I retrieved the keys, I headed back into the water. I managed a good ten laps with leg exercises in the deep end to work on my rehab.

All told, I was in the water perhaps 40 minutes at the most. I was starting to chill down a little then so I headed for the showers--nice hot water, yay!!

Here I am home again, quite content, well exercised and feeling a nice happy tired.

The summer has begun at last.

Chance Report

Very Interesting

The vet was here yesterday to evaluate Chance. Those of you who visit often know that he has been off and on lame all winter. Dr. Klayman did a thorough evaluation a while back and found a bit of bony change in his right hock. He injected that and Chance was sound behind, but was slightly off in his front left.

My farrier had found some sole bruising from the winter's back footing so we decided to treat conservatively. We first painted his soles with Venice turpentine, but during the course of that treatment, he got VERY lame. Since rain was predicted, I decided to forego the turpentine for a few days and, sure enough, in a day or so, Chance was sound again. I suspect he blew an abscess. At that point, I thought all was well.

Now, mind you, I am not yet sound enough myself to ride, so I did not try him out, except for a quick lunge.

When my vet arrived yesterday, his assistant lunged Chance, and once again, he was slightly off on his left front again. When he reacted to the hoof testers, we decided to do a nerve block to see what happened.

This time, after the block, he was slightly off on his right front. As I saw it, at that point, the best option was a set of X-rays.

Dr. Klayman found some signs of navicular disease. Again, it was slight, but the bone is definitely compromised.  The pictures also showed that changing Chance's hoof angle will help as well in aligning his coffin bone.

The vet is sending copies of the x-rays to my farrier, Scott, and plans on doing a phone consult. After that, Scott will need to come out to do some corrective trimming and, most likely put a set of front shoes on my boy. It's not my favorite option, but considering the prior bruising, this might be the best solution.

As for my riding, I am quite positive that once I am in the saddle, riding itself will be fine. The problem is both the mounting---probably not too bad with the tall mounting table I have--and dismounting, where the real problem lies. In order to dismount from either side, my left hip/leg needs to be able to turn and twist and therein lies the rub. Standing on one leg is difficult enough, but add that torque and I'll be in trouble.

At this point, I am opting out. No rush at this point. And besides, I need to wait until my boy is ready too.

On a side note, we are inundated with mosquitoes! Swarms of the little monsters are making it almost impossible to spend much time outside. The horses are hiding in the barn most of the time. I put there scrim sheets on and sprayed them with repellent and it helps, but the flysprays only last so long against mosquitoes. I called the County extermination service to report the little critters--well some of them are fairly good sized--and the woman there said I wasn't the only one reporting. It's been raining for the last two days and the sun is behind clouds which certainly doesn't help the situation.

Which leads to the fact that the swimming pool opens for weekends only tomorrow. Unfortunately, it's been far too cool to warm the water up enough to swim as far as I am concerned. The nights have been in the 40'sF and with the rain, the days have not been too warm either. I still may go over and at least dangle my feet in the water.

Until then, I think I'll opt for the indoor pool--water at 83F.

Just Thinking.....

How Complicated Riding Actually Is....

I was recently watching a video of a riding lesson and remembering how many times in my riding life I heard some of the same comments the trainer was making. Simple things on the surface: "Turn him off the outside rein," "Don't rush, take your time," "Bring your arm closer to your body," "Start turning there, don't wait so long," "Keep the rhythm."

Oh, and one of my favorites from my first excellent trainer, "Don't let him do that!"  She would often tell me how, but just as often let me figure out the answer myself.

Riding is a complex sport as I suspect most sports are. But there is the added complication of working with a partner who does not speak the same language we do. It's our job, as riders, to find and establish a common language to communicate what we want to happen. And, in many cases, we need to adjust that language each time we swing into the saddle. (Or in my case, clamber and thunk into the saddle.)

Every thing we do with our legs, our seats, our arms, our hands, and even our eyes, can make a difference in how a ride progresses. Our balance, or evenness, our weight and every nuance of what we do with our bodies in the saddle can make a huge difference in what the horse does under us.

When people hear that I have been riding for some fifty years and then mention that I am going to take a riding lesson somewhere, they might say, "You've been riding that long and you still need lessons?"

I'd like to reply, "Absolutely, but I'm studying for my doctorate," but I know that would be a lie. No matter how many lessons I've had, there's always something new to learn or something old to unlearn. And every good trainer I've met has a slightly different perspective on the best way to achieve my goals.

As I look forward to getting back into the saddle--clamber and hoist--I remain humbled by how much I still can learn about this sport of ours. I'm not sure if I will get back into the competition arena again--been there, done that forever and it's lost much of its allure--but I do know I will never stop training myself and my horses with each and every outing.

Once that doctorate degree looms on the distant horizon, it's hard not to pursue it.

Taped

Well, This is Interesting

When I went to physical therapy Friday, the therapist asked me about my knees. They were both pretty sore. The therapy I am doing for my hip also is for my knees as the orthopedic surgeon suggested I might have patellar tendonitis.  This means the tendon holding the knee cap in place is inflamed. Physical therapy should help, but in the meantime, it can be sore.

One of the strange treatments is taping. There are several methods of doing this.

My therapist used a cloth tape especially made for taping

It looks a bit strange and certain doesn't look as if it could do much to help my knees, but it certainly does!

My right knee felt 90% better and, at one point was pain free even when I bent it--the time when the pain most shows up.  My left knee--the side my hip break was on--was still sore on the outside, but the rest of it felt good too. 

You can still see the scars from my knee replacements. From the research I have done, perhaps 15%-19% of people who have knee replacements can have patellar tendonitis problems. The tendon and kneecap are not replaced in the surgery nor are the side supporting ligaments intended to keep the knee in place laterally. Since my ligaments were in pretty bad shape before the surgery--and my tendon may have been too--it's not all that surprising that I've had some aches and pains. 

The hip fracture put even more strain on my knees and while I was not well able to use my left leg, my right knee had to work extra hard. 

I may never be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but if I can find the right techniques to treat this condition and get myself in shape, I should feel a lot better. 

The tape can stay on for about three days at most. I have a special knee brace that I bought that's supposed to work too. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope it does. I can't really swim with the tape on, although I can shower. It just can't get soaked as it would in the pool. I am hoping the brace will make a good alternative. 

Who would have thought a roll of tape could make such a difference? 

Note: That's a cat toy on the floor. There's a little ball inside the track that the kitties like to try to fish out. When they bat it, it rolls around the track. Sometimes they play with it, and sometimes they just ignore it. 

In the Swim Again

And It Felt Great!!

I had to substitute yesterday--math. It was my first day back at work since the broken hip.  I made out just fine as most of the time I was able to just sit.

It was a misty kind of day, but on the warmer side, so I did not hesitate about going to the college pool after school.

I figured if I wasn't able to actually swim I would at least be able to walk in the water to exercise my leg.

Hallelujah!

Swimming was just fine. I did work a few muscles I haven't used much lately, so they are a bit sore today, but overall, it was wonderful and it felt really good.

Work in the water eliminates impact and offers some nice resistance to the muscles.  I swam eight full laps, walked two, and did some water aerobics/exercises at the deep end.  All in all, I worked out for going on 40 minutes. I took it slowly and easily.

Today I have physical therapy, so I'll skip the swimming.  Next week, I hope I can swim at least twice.

Getting back in the pool should really speed my recovery.